Better Together

Winterville Elementary teacher Dawn Phillips recently hosted a space science and astronomy classroom transformation immersion experience for students. The classroom was decorated with lights to represent the stars, an astronaut with his spaceship, planets, and a space-themed back drop. Upon entering the classroom, the students exchanged their tickets for their space-themed vest and learned. Students also learned about constellations and used their creativity and knowledge gained to sketch and name their own constellation. They also used pipe cleaners and star-shaped beads to create a model of their constellation and wrote a story about them. In addition to the classroom immersion, students also were visited by two guest speakers. UGA engineering student ambassador Benjamin Humphrey, who spoke to them about careers and research connected to space as well as his own work in aerospace projects for NASA. And Dr. Maurice Snook, a local retired chemist who frequently visits CCSD schools, spoke to students about the planets and their relative size to the earth and sun while engaging them in hands-on demonstrations to teach them about telescopes and comets.

Several CCSD student groups — the Cedar Shoals High School band and Clarke Central High School JROTC Drill Team among others — participated last week in the annual Downtown Parade of Lights hosted by the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, ACC Leisure Servoces, and Athens Downtown Development Authority. The Gladiator JROTC Drill Team won a Parade of Lights award from Mayor Kelly Girtz.

Barrow Elementary held its annual Holiday Market, which gave students, staff, and families a chance to showcase their talents with baked goods, crafts, and other items.

As a state-approved charter system, CCSD is focused on using innovative strategies to better meet the needs of our students. One such project involved transforming and repurposing two school buses into Innovative Learning Labs, which are intended to help the district in bridging literacy and STEM achievement gaps by providing versatile and engaging learning opportunities for students and families.

These mobile learning labs are used by our schools to increase access to literacy and developmentally appropriate resources for students grades PK-5 but can also be customized for specific enrichment opportunities for students at the secondary level. Ways they have been and can be used include:

• Providing access to E-books and reading resources to improve literacy skills
• STEM workshops with hands-on experiments and activities in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.
• Project-based learning requiring maximum student engagement and ownership
• Art and creativity classes with materials for drawing, painting, and crafting.
• Educational games on tablets and computers providing educational reinforcement in subjects like math, spelling, and geography
• Virtual field trips to musuems, zoos, and historical sites using VR and AR technology
• Providing tools and resources to help students with homework assignments
• Helping grow our future educators by providing students enrolled in the Teaching as a Profession pathway students at the Athens Community Career Academy opportunities to interact directly with our early learning students.
• Family and community engagement events.

Through additional school activities and community partnerships, the district’s goal is to continue expanding and increasing usage of the buses as part of a broader effort to ensure that learning is always innovative in CCSD and to help us in our mission of creating educational journeys that empower all students to fulfill their potential.

Congratulations to Fowler Drive Elementary School first-grade teacher Samantha Yvellez for being selected as CCSD's Employee of the Month for December! Ms. Yvellez is in her fourth year with Fowler Drive and CCSD and is a coach for the school's "Girls on the Run" running program for students in grades 3-5. She also works with the school's ASP program and has served on the Hispanic Heritage and Black History committees. Ms. Yvellez was nominated by a colleague who said she has "always gone above and beyond for her students, constantly thinking of ways to engage them in creative activities that challenge and excite them" and has dedicated so much of her time to the Fowler Drive community.

As a reminder, anyone in the community (students, staff, families, community members) may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service to the district for this award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward! You can also find the form embedded directly below.

Congratulations to Fowler Drive Elementary fifth-grade students Samaria Bush and Kali Jimenez, who placed first out of 27 teams in CCSD and 73rd out 3,471 teams across the state in the Fall 2024 Georgia Stock Market Game competition!

The Stock Market Game is an exciting simulation that gives students in grades 4-12 the opportunity to invest a virtual $100,000 for 10 weeks in real stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. At the end of the 10 weeks, teams with the highest total equity are eligible for a variety of prizes and awards.

Samaria (left) and Kali finished the 10-week competition with $129,777.86, and their returns beat the S&P 500 by 23%! They are pictured with their teacher, Kira Graves.

For the second year in a row, all 21 CCSD schools (14 elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools) have been recognized by the Georgia Department of Education for supporting positive school climate through PBIS implementation, and Barnett Shoals Elementary, Cleveland Road Elementary, Fowler Drive Elementary, and Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School were named PBIS Distinguished Schools for the 2023-24 school year!

PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) is an evidence-based, data-driven framework proven to reduce the number of disciplinary incidents and improve school climates as well as overall academic outcomes among students. Teachers provide positive feedback to students who are meeting expectations, while providing respectful, corrective feedback and reteaching for students who do not meet expectations.

Barnett Shoals, Cleveland Road, Fowler Drive, and BHL were recognized for meeting all five of the state's outcome data measures to achieve Distinguished status. Members of CCSD's Student and Family Support subdivision visited the schools this month to present them with their Distinguished Schools banners.

Be sure to join us all day, Friday, Dec. 20, for the Classic City Basketball Championship games between Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central high schools at the brand-new Akins Ford Arena in downtown Athens!

The action gets started at 1 p.m. with the girls' junior-varsity game, followed by the boys' JV game at 3 p.m., girls' varsity game at 5 p.m., and boys' varsity game at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased and more information can be found at this link. Please note that tickets will also be sold at the gate, but you must have an electronic form of payment as the Akins Ford Arena is a cashless facility. Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central students will receive free admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. CCSD staff without a GHSA-approved pass must also purchase a ticket.

After a thrilling first two rounds of our Elementary Basketball League playoff tournament, the championship games are set for Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Cedar Shoals High School. The action will begin at 6 p.m. with the girls' championship between Howard B. Stroud Elementary and Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary, followed by the boys' championship at 7 p.m. between Winterville Elementary and Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary.

Admission will be free. We invite all of our community to come out and support these students as they take the court. You can find first-round and semifinal photo galleries on the CCSD Facebook page and follow the Athens Youth Development Initiative Facebook page for the latest updates.

The University of Georgia gymnastics team is encouraging all CCSD elementary school students to stay physically active and fit by joining the "Ten to Win" Challenge. Students who do 10 sit ups, 10 jumping jacks, or have 10 minutes of bike riding, dancing, or playing outside will receive a shirt and two free tickets to the Gym Dogs' home meet against Kentucky on March 2 at 6 p.m.

Submit confirmation of completion at georgiadogs.com/tentowin. The deadline to submit is Feb. 23. For more information, email ella.beadles@uga.edu.

CCSD students in grades PK-12 are invited to participate in the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government Waste Reduction Division's annual Green Life Art Contest. Winning entries will be included in the Green Life Art Exhibition in April.

This year, students are invited to explore and express their unique perspectives on sustainability and nature in the Classic City. Create a work of art that shares how you see Athens embracing the balance between urban life and the natural world, highlighting both its challenges and the beauty that lies in its landscapes and environment. Students are encouraged to create a painting, drawing, sculpture, take a photograph, or write a poem to demonstrate Athens through your eyes.

Visit accgov.com/GreenLife for more information.

The Clarke County Board of Education welcomes community feedback. Here are ways you can share your voice:

• Contact BOE Members: Click here to view a list of the BOE members and their contact information.
• Attend a Meeting: The board's next scheduled meeting is Thursday, Jan. 16, with the work session beginning at 5 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. All meetings are held in the Vernon Payne Meeting Hall at the CCSD administrative offices building, located at 595 Prince Ave. in Athens. The public is invited to attend meetings in person. Meetings are also streamed live and are available for on-demand viewing on the CCSD YouTube channel. Click here for the board meeting schedule.
• Agendas: Click here to access board meeting agendas.
• Board Briefs: Click to read the "Board Briefs" overview from meetings.
  
• Public Comments: Click here for information on how to sign-up to speak at a BOE meeting.
• Review Policies for Review: View and comment on district policies pending public review.

Athens-based nonprofit Casa de Amistad has several opportunities coming up in early 2025, including English classes for Spanish speakers, Spanish classes for English speakers, and GED classes in both English and Spanish. See the flyers below and visit athensamistad.com for additional information.

CCSD families are invited to participate in two research projects being conducted by the Augusta University-University of Georgia Medical Partnership. The first is to study preferences and barriers with electronic communication and improve communication between pediatricians and patients' parents and guardians. The second is to understand people's dental care experiences locally and how services can be enhanced with families. Survey results will help inform operations at the Clarke Middle Health Center, which is managed by the medical partnership.

Click the buttons below to access the surveys or scan the codes in the flyers above.

Athens Area Habitat for Humanity will hold a community bake sale from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, at the Globe, 199 North Lumpkin St., Athens. The sale will feature baked goods from local businesses, and proceeds will benefit the Athens Habitat Global Village Project, which will consist of volunteers constructing and making improvements to houses in Guatemala.

The Cedar Shoals High School Alumni Association will hold a community food distribution event Monday, Jan. 20, in partnership with City of Refuge Athens. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at Cedar Shoals High, 1300 Cedar Shoals Dr. Everyone must register to receive food. Register at bit.ly/CEDFOOD or by scanning the code in the flyer above.

Project Safe's annual Jessica Nowell Memorial "Stomp Out Domestic Violence" step show will be held Saturday, Feb. 16, at Clarke Central High School.

Step teams from CCSD schools will be among those participating in the event. Doors will open at 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students.